If you’re looking for something to bake so that your house smells good, this is the recipe to try. The aroma of brown sugar, pumpkin and maple will fill your kitchen! (Actually, when I bake these muffins I make a double batch and it causes the whole building to smell like pumpkin!)
I often serve these for Thanksgiving breakfast. Thanksgiving breakfast is a grand tradition at our house. I cook a nice breakfast and then we all head out to the parade–rain or shine! In any case, I hope you like them as much as we do.
You will need:
2 cups flour
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp packed brown sugar, divided
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
¼ tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
¾ cup evaporated milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp maple syrup, divided
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 package (3 ounces) of cream cheese (make sure to leave it out so it will be softened when you need to use it)
For the topping you will need:
¼ cup chopped pecans
2 tsp brown sugar
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, ¾ cup of brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin, milk, oil and 1 tablespoon of syrup. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until moistened. (Batter will be lumpy.) Fold in pecans–do not over stir.
In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and remaining brown sugar and syrup until smooth. Gently stir into batter until mixture appears swirled. (The trick here is to slowly add the cream cheese mixture while stirring very slowly.)
Fill greased or paper-lined muff cups about three-fourths full. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test. Cool for 5 minutes before attempting to remove the muffins from the pan.
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